Take an audio walk through the iconic Nicholas Building, soundtracked by The Letter String Quartet, brought to you by All That You Hear
“All That You Hear Is All That Is Heard looks at how subtle shifts in sound over time can determine how you feel within a space.” – Biddy Connor, The Letter String Quartet
All That You Hear is a collaboration between composer Biddy Connor of The Letter String Quartet and independent curator, Rachael Paintin. The first in the series, All That You Hear Is All That Is Heard, is a site-specific experiment in sound designed to take you on a journey through the iconic Nicholas Building in the heart of Melbourne’s CBD on Swanston Street.
Experimenting with time and place, The Letter String Quartet play with musical illusions and allusions that mimic and respond to the architecture and social history of the Nicholas Building. Expect to be caught in a lyrical game of telephone as snippets of stories from tenants past and present are woven into the music score.
We wanted to “pay tribute to the many tenants who have spent time in the Nicholas Building forming a creative and dynamic community. The layers of sound are designed so that each listen will be slightly and subtly different, with shifting layers that capture the essence of the building,” explains curator Rachael Paintin
The Nicholas Building has long been one of Melbourne’s most valuable cultural treasures and a hub for creative practitioners since its construction in 1926. For anyone that has been inside, it’s a time capsule. The intricate 1920’s decor stands untouched, from the stained glass arcade to the copper accents. All That You Hear encourages its visitors to slow down and explore, amidst the hurry of Melbourne’s CBD.
“The cycles of sound are telling us something: that time is integral to space is integral to people is integral to storytelling. The Nicholas building is stationary but still, it moves. We don’t notice this movement until we look down and say, how did we get here?” — Hasib Hourani, for Nite Art 2019.
THE LETTER STRING QUARTET – THE NICHOLAS BUILDING
Launching on Sunday 30 October, the All That You Hear Is All That Is Heard audio experience will be available to listen to until the end of April 2023 and accessible via a series of QR codes within the building. To begin your journey, you can find the first QR code outside the lift on level 1 of the Nicholas Building. On select floors, additional QR codes link to new soundtracks, while other floors leave the experience up to individual exploration.
The building — and the audio experience — is open to the public from 7 am – 7 pm daily and requires a personal smartphone with mobile data and QR code readability.
The Nicholas Building is home to a community of over 200 artists, creatives and independent enterprises represented by The Nicholas Building Association. As you partake in the All That You Hear Is All That Is Heard audio experience, we invite you to visit the retail spaces and galleries that are open to the public but ask that you respect those that are private studios. Grab a coffee or a tea from Cathedral Cafe and wander through the history of one of Melbourne’s most loved buildings. Place your phone’s face against a wall and see what you can hear on the other side, in the next room.
All That You Hear Is All That Is Heard is funded by the City of Melbourne arts grants and Creative Victoria workers fund. All That You Hear would like to thank the Nicholas Building Association, Missing Persons and Chamber Made’s Little Operations program for generously funding the initial development in 2019.
Watch Excerpts from “Little Operations” development with Chamber Made
All That You Hear Is All That Is Heard
Open from Sunday 30 October – April 2023
7 am – 7 pm Daily
Accessed on your smartphone via QR codes located outside the internal lifts in The Nicholas Building. The building and internal lifts are wheelchair accessible, however, please note there are no public bathrooms or accessible parking allocated to the building.
Curated by Rachael Paintin
Composed, Directed and Edited by Biddy Connor
Produced by Rachael Paintin & Biddy Connor
Improvisations: The Letter String Quartet
Creative Coder: Steph O’Hara
Engineered, Mixed and Mastered: James Cecil
The Letter String Quartet are:
Violin & Voice: Steph O’Hara
Violin & Voice: Lizzy Welsh
Viola & Voice: Biddy Connor
Cello & Voice: Zoë Barry
About Rachael Paintin, Independent Curator
Rachael is an independent emerging curator, currently based in Naarm/Melbourne. Her practice is concerned with interactive audience engagement, both inside and outside of the traditional gallery space. Previous projects include SPACE WALK; a curator-led art walk series in association with Nite Art. She also co-founded Wi Chi Chi; a quarterly event series designed to provide a platform for collaboration, and a space for new audiences to discover and engage with art.
About Biddy Connor, Composer and Artistic Director of The Letter String Quartet.
Biddy Connor has composed, arranged and performed for a diverse range of projects including film, television,
theatre, large-scale community events and games. In 2018 Biddy composed and produced the music for the animated interactive game Paperbark and live acrobatic show, The Bottle Collector. In 2016 she was a finalist in The Melbourne Music Prize Outstanding Musicians Award.
Biddy is the Artistic Director and viola player for The Letter String Quartet.
The Letter String Quartet is Steph O’Hara, Lizzy Welsh, Biddy Connor and Zoë Barry – an innovative and captivating ensemble who push the sonic possibilities of the string quartet into new realms.
